Читать книгу The Science of Religion - Howard Barry Schatz - Страница 19

Aquarius, the Water Bearer, is considered an Air sign within modern astrology, but in ancient times it was considered a Water sign, as its etymology suggests. Its Latin meaning is “water-bearer,” symbolized by water spilling from the water pot of Aquarius. In the Babylonian calendar, the freshwater of the apsû spilling from the urn of Aquarius (Figure 17a) represented the purging rains from above, as well as the underground freshwater of the Apsû (Underworld or Hades), which flooded the world from below through springs, rivers, lakes, and wells. Genesis 2:8 describes a similar scene: “On that day, the fountains of the great deep burst forth; and the windows of the Heavens were opened.” In ancient Greece, Aquarius poured water from the Heavens for days on end, inundating the Earth.

In Greek mythology, Zeus fancied the handsome shepherd boy Ganymede, and had him abducted by Aquila, who carried him to off to Mount Olympus to be his lover and “cup-bearer,” pouring the “nectar of the gods” (“magic elixir”) from a jug. He was given a place in Heaven as Aquarius. The Egyptians associate this constellation with Khnum, the god of water, who caused the Nile to overflow when he dipped his water bucket into the river. The astrological symbol for Aquarius (Figure 17b) corresponds to a splitting of the spiritual waters from the material waters, “dividing the waters from the waters,” as within Scripture.

Figure 17a - The Water Bearer

Figure 17b - the Sign of Aquarius Separating the waters from the waters is the Egyptian Hieroglyphic